Gillette is the former CEO of First Solar Inc., a manufacturer of solar cells and power plants. He is also former president and CEO of the transportation systems and aerospace divisions of Honeywell International. Before Honeywell, he worked in various positions at GE for a decade including as manager of a plastics plant in Brazil.

Council Begins Action On End Of Budget Year Items

Memphis City Council members approved several budget items Tuesday, June 18, for the end of the current fiscal year before turning their attention to the budget for the coming fiscal year.

That includes a long promised Holmes-Tchulahoma Park in South Memphis. The council appropriated $1.5 million for the park’s construction in a contract with Wagner General Contractors Inc.

It also included $1 million for speed humps at various locations in the city in a contract with Cantrell Construction.

The council delayed to next month a vote on $115,000 in funding for a dog park at Greenbelt Park on Mud Island through the Riverfront Development Corp.

Lee Harris, the council member who is sponsoring that item and was absent Tuesday, had better luck with second reading of his ordinance that would exempt Memphis vehicle owners from having auto inspections. The measure passed with third reading at the first council meeting in June.

The council also approved a trio of ordinances on third and final reading that push the effective date for new seismic provisions in the code for residential and existing buildings to the end of 2013. Without the change the new code would have taken effect July 1.

The Shelby County Commission took the same action at its meeting Monday.

At both meetings, the delay in the effective date drew support from developers and homebuilders who want the time to make changes to the provisions. And members of the West Tennessee Structural Engineers Association as well as the University of Memphis Earthquake Center argued there should be no delay or changes to the provisions.

– Bill Dries

Southerland Place to Host Veterans Benefit Workshop

Southerland Place Germantown on Saturday, June 22, is hosting a free Veterans Affairs benefits workshop for wartime veterans and their surviving spouses who live in assisted-living facilities.

Jim Austin, an insurance agent with Veterans Financial Inc., will lead the presentation on benefit eligibility from the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs. Austin will explain who qualifies and how to apply for the maximum monthly tax-free Aid and Attendance Pension for surviving spouses ($1,113), single veterans ($1,732), and married veterans

($2,054).

The free seminar is open to the public and begins at 10 a.m. at 7701 Poplar Ave. in Germantown. Interested participants should call 752-8444 to reserve a spot.

– Jennifer Johnson Backer

Council Slashes $250,000 From EDGE Budget

The Memphis City Council voted Tuesday, June, 18, to slash $250,000 from the budget of the Economic Development Growth Engine for Memphis and Shelby County.

The council’s vote will not be final until it approves a city budget at its next meeting on June 25.

City Council member Janis Fullilove proposed the cut, saying the cash-strapped city gives away too much in incentives.

EDGE, formed in 2011, administers the business incentive programs for Memphis and Shelby County. EDGE combines the Industrial Development Board, Depot Memphis, International Port of Memphis, Frank C. Pidgeon Industrial Park and Foreign Trade Zone 77 under one roof.

– Amos Maki

Haslam’s Chief Deputy Claude Ramsey to Retire

Gov. Bill Haslam says chief deputy Claude Ramsey is retiring at the end of August to spend more time with his family in Chattanooga.

The Republican governor said in a news release on Wednesday that the 70-year-old Ramsey has been integral to his administration on key initiatives that include civil service reform, economic development efforts, workforce development training and improved operation of state government.

Ramsey was elected to the General Assembly in 1972 where he served four years in the House. He was Hamilton County’s mayor for 16 years.

His last day on the job is Aug. 31.

– The Associated Press

Price of Oil Down Slightly

The price of oil was down slightly Wednesday as traders waited to hear the latest on the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy from chairman Ben Bernanke.

Oil fell about 40 cents after the government said U.S. oil supplies rose by 300,000 barrels last week. But it quickly bounced back. Benchmark oil for July delivery was down 12 cents to $98.32 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

The nation’s inventory of crude oil grew by 300,000 barrels, or 0.1 percent. At 394.1 million barrels, supplies are 1.8 percent above year-ago levels, the Energy Department’s Energy Information Administration said in its weekly report. Analysts expected supplies to drop by 1 million barrels.

To help support the U.S. economic recovery, the Fed has been buying $85 billion in bonds every month in an attempt to keep long-term interest rates low and encourage lending. The new money generated has flowed into the financial system, helping many assets, including oil, to climb from the lows witnessed during the recent global recession.